THE COMMA SPLICE NOTES
A _______________ occurs when _____ independent clauses (full stand-alone ____________)
are __________ together by a ____________. A comma alone is ____________________ to join
two independent clauses.
Independent Clauses:
The boy walked to school.
He arrived at 9:00 a.m.
Sarah needed to go to the grocery store.
She had to buy eggs to make breakfast.
Comma Splices:
The boy walked to school, he arrived at 9:00 a.m.
Sarah needed to go to the grocery store, she had to buy eggs to make breakfast.
Another Example:
Jane loves to eat apples, green apples are her favorite.
-This is a ______________ because there are ______ independent __________ (IC) here.
IC 1 – Jane loves to eat apples.
IC 2 – Green apples are her favorite.
Comma splices can be fixed four ways:
1.
By __________ a ____________ after the __________. A conjunction can be any of
the following (____, ____, _____, ____, ___, ____ so, otherwise known as ___________):
Jane loves to eat apples, and green apples are her favorite.
2.
By _____________ the comma to a _____________ and _________________ the first
word in the ______________ clause:
Jane loves to eat apples. Green apples are her favorite.
3.
By changing __________ of the ______________ Clauses into a _____________ Clause
by using a ______________ (since, although, while, when, because, if, after)
Jane loves to eat green apples because they are her favorite.
4.
By ____________ the comma with a _________-colon IF ________ independent
clauses are _____________ to each other meaningfully.
Janes loves to eat apples; green are her favorite.
THE COMMA SPLICE NOTES
A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses (full stand-alone sentences) are
joined together by a comma. A comma alone is not strong enough to join two
independent clauses.
Independent Clauses:
The boy walked to school.
He arrived at 9:00 a.m.
Sarah needed to go to the grocery store.
She had to buy eggs to make breakfast.
Comma Splices:
The boy walked to school, he arrived at 9:00 a.m.
Sarah needed to go to the grocery store, she had to buy eggs to make breakfast.
Another Example:
Jane loves to eat apples, green apples are her favorite.
-This is a comma splice because there are two independent clauses (IC) here.
IC 1 – Jane loves to eat apples.
IC 2 – Green apples are her favorite.
Comma splices can be fixed four ways:
5.
By adding a conjunction after the comma. A conjunction can be any of the
following (for, and, nor, but, or, yet so, otherwise known as FANBOYS):
Jane loves to eat apples, and green apples are her favorite.
6.
By changing the comma to a period and capitalizing the first word in the second
clause:
Jane loves to eat apples. Green apples are her favorite.
7.
By changing one of the Independent Clauses into a Dependent Clause by using
a subordinator (since, although, while, when, because, if, after)
Jane loves to eat green apples because they are her favorite.
8.
By replacing the comma with a semi-colon IF both independent clauses are
related to each other meaningfully.
Janes loves to eat apples; green are her favorite.